THE WORLD OF INDUSTRY3 Year Geography
Almudena Corrales Marbán
Social Studies Department
1. THE SECONDARY SECTOR
The secondary sector includes the
economic activities that transform raw
materials into other products in order to
meet human needs.
This activities are:
INDUSTRY
Industry is the biggest activity
within the secondary sector. It
transforms raw materials into finished
products, for direct consumption, or
semifinished products, which are
used as materials in other industrial
processes.
MINING
Mining is the process of locating, extracting and refining the rocks and minerals that are in the ground. To carry out this activity, the following steps are required:
• Prospecting
• Extraction techniques, which vary depending on whether theminerals are found in open-air deposits or in underground deposits known as mines.
• Refining systems, to separate the usable mineral (ore) from thesurrounding rocks (gangue) which are of no commercial interest.
Ore: Mena
Gangue: ganga
ENERGY PRODUCTION
Energy production transforms
fuel into forms of energy, such as
heat or electricity, which make
it possible to do work.
Major investments and large
facilities are required to produce
energy, for example power
stations*, which are specialised in
each type of energy source:
thermal power stations, wind
power stations, solar power
stations, hydraulic power stations.
Power stations: centrales electricas
CONSTRUCTION
Construction creates different
types of structures (buildings) and
infrastructure (roads, bridges,
dams*, etc.). This activity requires
construction projects and
materials, such as steel* and
concrete*, which are the most
used today. Construction has a
great impact on the environment.
Dams: dique
Steel: acero
Concrete: hormigón
2. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY USESA. RAW MATERIALS (Materias primas)
Depending on the origin they can be:
Biological:
• Plant raw materials come from agriculture like cotton or linen, and forestry like cork (corcho).
• Animal raw materials come from livestock farming like wool or leather, and fishing activities like fishing for the canning industry, oils and fishmeal.
Geological:
• Minerals which can be used to extract metals (iron, lead*, aluminium, copper*, zinc, uranium), precious metals (gold, silver) and also nonmetallic materials (glass, precious stones and fertilisers).
• Rocks, such as granite, clay*, limestone* and marble, are used to manufacture construction materials (cement, concrete, ceramics)
• Fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas), which we obtain energy from.
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY ALSO USESB. ENERGY RESOURCES (Fuentes de energía)
Which can be classified into:
Traditional CoalFuentes de energía Oil tradicionales Natural gas
Nuclear
SolarAlternative Wind power
Biomass
Tidal power
Geothermal Nuclear fusion
All of these resources are non-renewable energies, because they are being used at a much faster rate than they can be replaced, which means that in the future they will run out.
Oil is the most commonly used, representing 42%, followed by natural gas (23%), coal (22%), hydroelectric (7%) and nuclear (7%).
Fuentes de energía
alternativas
The word ‘alternative’ is used to describe sources of energy that could replace traditional energies in the future.They are also called GREEN ENERGIES
3. HOW HAS IT BEEN THE EVOLUTION OF THE INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY?
First we must talk about:
Manual industry
Before the middle of the 18th century almost all
industrial work was done by hand, using traditional
instruments and low level power sources, such as
animals and wood fires.
Production was very low and as each worker made the
product entirely by hand, each one was unique.
People worked in small workshops, which were owned by
a ‘master’. These workshops were found all across the
country in towns and cities.
workshops: talleres
Then
Modern industry was introduced
Things began to change in Great Britain in the First Industrial Revolution
(1770-1850) and developed even more in the Second Industrial
Revolution (1850-1950). Machines were used which were driven by more
powerful sources of energy, such as coal, oil and electricity.
Production increased dramatically and because it was done using
machines the items were uniform and much cheaper. People built larger
factories near areas rich in raw materials, sources of energy or in large
cities.
Large factories.Powerful machines driven by new energies. Workers specialised in a single task. Abundant, uniform and cheap production.
Industry today
From the middle of the 20th century to the present day, industry has been
developing due to what is known as the Third Industrial Revolution. Today,
work tends to be automated, and incorporates new energy sources
(nuclear, alternative energies), new technologies (microelectronics,
telecommunications, IT) and industrial robots.
Production consists of short production runs of diverse, cheap products,
made in factories which can be located anywhere in the world
because of the use of new technologies and cheap transport.
IT: Information Technology
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS
4. INDUSTRY ACTIVITY CREATESDifferent types of industries such as:
• BASIC INDUSTRIES (Industrias de primera elaboración o de base). They
include the iron and steel industry and the petrochemical industry, which
produces chemical products.
• EQUIPMENT AND MACHINERY (Industrias de equipo). Examples are
machinery, industrial equipment and railway, naval and construction
materials. These are also considered heavy industries (industria pesada)
because of the high consumption of energy and materials.
• CONSUMER INDUSTRIES (Industrias de bienes de uso y consumo). This
kind of industry makes finished products aimed directly at the consumer,
such as foods, textiles, chemical products, etc. All of them are light
industries (industria ligera), as they consume less energy and raw
materials.
5. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY ALSO CREATES
INDUSTRIAL SPACES SUCH AS
1. Industrial Estates: (Áreas industriales)
They are different sized spaces for traditional industries. They have the appropriate infrastructure for industrial activity.
2. Technology parks: (Parques tecnológicos)
They are similar in size to the industrial estates, but contain high-tech industries.
3. High-tech zones: (Zonas de alto desarrollo tecnológico)
These are large areas where high-tech industries are concentrated, many of these are innovative companies and R&D centres. (Research and Development centres)
6. FINALLY INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY GIVES RISE TO :
INDUSTRIAL REGIONS
• United States, Japan and the European Union
have high concentrations of industry which benefit from
advanced technology and large markets for their
products.
• Some regional powers, such as Russia, Australia,
New Zealand, South Africa and the oil exporting
countries, owe their high levels of industrialisation to
the exploitation of their abundant natural resources.
• Emerging countries in Asia, such as China, South
Korea and India, or in Latin America, such as Brazil and
Mexico, have developed industrially because of
globalisation. Many multinational companies have
transferred* some of their factories to these countries .
The least industrialised areas of
the Earth are in developing
countries. The reasons why they
have little industry is because they
lack of resources or the capital to
exploit them, the absence of
markets and poor transport and
Communications infrastructure.
What are the reasons why some areas of the Earth are least
industrialised?
DEVELOPED COUNTRY REGIONAL POWER EMERGING COUNTRY
USSAPORTUGAL
RUSSIANEW ZELAND
SOUTH KOREACHINAINDIABRAZIL
THE INDUSTRIAL AREAS IN EUROPE
The industrial areas in Europe are
• Western Europe, and the EU, is the most industrialised area.
In this area, traditional industries are having serious problems
new industrial spaces for high-technology industries are growing
rapidly near the large metropolises.
• In Eastern Europe, the main industrial areas are located in
Ukraine, in the Donets basin, and in Russia around Moscow and
in the Ural Mountains. They are specialised in traditional sectors
and are currently having serious problems.